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Humanist Union Dramatis Personae
__TOC__ Federal Government Coordinator Roland Stein "What you have to understand about Stein is that his cult of personality didn't come out of the aether. While the rest of the Progressive Navy was busy bickering on how to create a new state out of the Republic's ashes, Stein was working in soup kitchens in devastated urban areas and organizing labor brigades." The ruler of the Humanist Union, Coordinator Stein is, by state law, the highest authority in the nation, removable from his post only by voluntary abdication or a demand of the Federal Legislature. While the Coordinator can theoretically involve himself in any branch of government on any world (due to the Union's early troubles with instability and corruption), Stein generally prefers to cooperate with planetary, sector-level, and federal politicians in order to cultivate an image of plurality. The various heads of federal departments are appointed by Stein and approved of by the Federal Legislature and tend towards strong personal loyalty to the man. Stein is considered a strong adherent to new humanist political ideology and contributed significantly to theory, though the trials of state have shown him to be willing to make comprimises in the name of practicality. Despite his fatherly personality and high personal charisma, Stein is remarkably ruthless. It is significant to note that of the four members of the ruling council of the Humanist proto-state, the Cooperative Coalition of Planets, only Roland Stein is left alive today. Though Coordinator Stein sees military might as a tool to be used, he is not blinded by his years in naval service to civil issues, and has been known to rein in his more militant subordinates where necessary. Stein affects a humble appearance, wearing an undecorated naval officer's uniform on formal occasions. It is believed that he either has multiple body doubles or otherwise clones. Stein's cult of personality is pervasive throughout the Humanist Union, but is particularly strong on New Britain and his homeworld of Vladivostok. Director Vasily Romanovich Tabanov "Rude, brooding, heartless, more like a cold fish than a man. A clever bastard and utterly dependable." Director of the Department of War. Second only to Coordinator Stein himself in personal authority over the military, Director Tabanov is an unlikable, suspicious man who attracted Stein's attention during the purges of the army and navy following the revolution. Himself only a middling military strategist, Tabanov is an excellent organizer and delegator with a realistic sense both of his own abilities and those of others. Though considered unfriendly and cold, an examination of Tabanov's conduct and purge era behavior shows him to be extremely careful in his work, avoiding the paranoia or self-centered focus of other figures involved in the purges. Those who come to know Tabanov personally realize that his perceived coldness has more to do with how seriously he takes his position than with any deficit of personality. On close terms with Coordinator Stein himself, Tabanov is similarly reserved and humble, avoiding ostentatious dress and behavior and shunning the benefits of his office in favor of a spartan lifestyle. A rigid new humanist, Tabanov dislikes ideological comprimise but will grudgingly acknowledge its necessity. Distrustful of the Federal Legislature and Director Bryce, he is in favor of Coordinator Stein taking more firm control over state affairs. Director William Bryce "The Humanist Union was born in military conflict and nursemaided by military men and women, that's true - still, underestimate Bryce at your own peril." Director Bryce heads the Union's Department of the State, a nebulous branch of the federal government under whose authority falls a variety of departments concerning the management of everything from food production to industrial output to safety regulations in food and pharmaceuticals. It is the Department of the State's job to arrange these organizations into some degree of cooperation, giving Bryce significant responsibility to go along with his considerable authority. Unusual in the upper new humanist ranks in that he is not a soldier and possesses ESP, Bryce has been a long adherent to new humanist ideology and has worked to spread its influence in the civilian populace for decades. Something of a black sheep in the upper ranks of the government, Bryce wields considerable authority through his department and also through the Union's Office of Psionics, which he helped to build prior to ascending to his current assignment. Bryce is seen by some of his colleagues as arrogant and overly-ambitious. His competence, however, and his placement of duty before ambition have earned him Coordinator Stein's respect. Tabanov and Bryce in particular are bitter rivals, each sparring for funding and influence. Director Agatha Masterson "Director Masterson puts the lie to the claim that women make for peaceful, benevolent leaders." The feared head of the Department of Internal Intelligence, Director Masterson represents the eye turned inward on the Humanist Union. Outwardly a motherly, warm personality, she is well-known for her ruthlessness and keen judge of character. Known throughout her career by such fanciful nicknames as "Heart-of-Stone Masterson," she has played at least a small role in uncovering various plots, disloyalties, or cases of corruption from long before she was the Director of the DII. Unusually, she has almost no political leanings whatsoever, giving new humanist ideology lip service at best. In a nation largely dominated by a single political party, this has earned her interest from would-be rivals or even counter-revolutionaries, but both parties have found, time and again, that her loyalty to the state is unquestionable. Masterson is dismissive of calls in the government for rapid external expansion, holding that the Humanist state is still undergoing constant stabilization. Director Masterson's authority over the Union's Office of Political Infidelity and its agents make her unpopular in the military, even though its agents are concerned primarily with treason, not how well commanders espouse party ideology. She is easily one of the single-most powerful human beings in the state. Director Salazar Cohen "Yes, he's young - all that means is that he's got decades ahead of him to get even more dangerous." The recently-ascended chief of the Department of External Intelligence, Director Cohen is a dynamic man known for his pervasive energy. In contrast to Director Masterson, Director Cohen is outwardly cold, analytical, frequently coming off as impatient. Director Cohen's energy has thus far served him well, catapulting him through the ranks of the DEI and the commanding position at a startling pace. An invested new humanist, Director Cohen devotes what little spare time he has to study, development, and refinement of party theory so that it might better-serve the state and the citizens. Director Cohen is known for having a long train of personal allies in the DEI, despite his sharp personality. Director Cohen shows regular suspicion over the political loyalties of other high-ranked government officials, and he is on poor personal terms with Director Masterson in particular, a reflection of the rivalry between the DII and DEI that dates back to each department's formation. To his credit, Director Cohen does not let his personal feelings get in the way of his job. Cohen will surely need all of his energy and professionalism to help the DEI, stunted by Humanist isolationist behavior, to grow. Director Hugh Bishop "Lieutenant Director Bishop seems to be impervious to any workload no matter its size." Hugh Bishop was the last second-in-command of the Office of Foreign Relations under Amos Bowman - a position he had earned only recently - prior to Bowman's death. Promoted to directorship thereafter, Bishop became the youngest person to be assigned this position in its history. Hard-working and ambitious, Bishop has thus far lived up to the government's expectations, have been personally involved in most of the Humanist Union's recent diplomatic exchages. Like Bowman before him, he favors an increase in diplomatic relations with the greater galactic community, but he is considerably less reserved in pursuit of this. Bishop personally oversees many of the major diplomatic tasks his department engages in, but his hands-on nature means he is inexperienced and untrusting when delegating tasks that are, by their nature autonomous. Army Marshal Adam DuBois "DuBois is perhaps the best piece of evidence for the claim that Stein values competence, not political orthodoxy." Supreme commander of the armies of the Humanist Union, Marshal DuBois is one of the few syndicalists left in a position of high power in the Humanist Union. Himself a former republican army commander, he defected almost immediately to the Progressive side and thereafter coordinated protracted guerilla campaigns across a variety of worlds. His most famous work is with the syndicalist urban brigades, themselves among the most controversial figures of the revolution; he is well-trusted by subordinates for his calm charisma and appreciation of the value of his soldiers' lives. Despite his aberrant political leanings, he's generally considered a reliable member of the upper echelons of government, putting the good of the nation and its citizens above his ideology. A pariah among radical syndicalists today, who consider him a traitor to the cause and a new humanist stooge. DuBois is well-known for his calm even under stress, and can rarely be seen angry or indeed emotionally aroused at all. In the past, DuBois and Tabanov have been at odds with each other over DuBois's political leanings, but the decades have shown DuBois to be a loyal commander and earned Tabanov's grudging trust. DuBois has been known in the past to be critical of the new humanist "vanguard party" concept, calling it prone to corruption and undemocratic. These misgivings have largely been silenced, whether because Coordinator Stein runs a tight government or because Marshal DuBois feels the need to be apolitical as a member of state. Aging even when he joined the revolution, it is quite clear that DuBois benefits from medical techniques that appear to have halted his aging entirely. Navy Fleet Admiral Ian Yale "It's said that Stein has no friends, only comrades. The fleet admiral is the only living exception." Supreme commander of the navy of the Humanist Union, Fleet Admiral Yale is among Coordinator Stein's closest comrades-in-arms. The two men were roommates while in officer's training school, and formed a friendship there. Reunited on the revolutionary side during the ICR's civil war, Yale served under Stein first as an executive officer then with his own command. Yale's rise through the ranks of the Cooperative Coalition of Planets and Humanist Union both has been steady and implacable, his career relatively unstained by the purge years. Though notionally a socialist in his younger years, he drifted into the new humanist camp while serving under Stein during the Progressive Civil War. Yale lives in a manner that is austere even by the standards proscribed in new humanism, comparable more to a minimally-educated manual laborer than a high-ranking military official. After the manner of the Coordinator, he shuns medals and ribbons even on formal occasions. Yale was profoundly personally affected by the civil war, and the result is a somewhat distant, cool personality. Nonetheless, he cares for the lives under his command. Commodore Abagail Brookes "At the rate she's going, she just might make admiral one day." Abagail Brookes is a rising star in the Union's Federal Navy, a transfer from an outer rim civil defense fleet. Her tactical ferocity earned her this recognition, and her probationary appointment as a lieutenant commander in the national fleet has since borne fruit. Commodore Brookes has become experienced in hunting and defeating pirates and unusual in that she shows considerably less ruthlessness towards her defeated prey than is common in the navy. Having grown up on a planet in the New Haven sector prior to its incorporation into the Humanist Union, she is an enthusiastic member of the New Humanist Progressive Party who trends towards Expansionist beliefs. Criminal Roman Vladimirovich Yarov "The only thing worse than a man who wants to hurt you and can is a man who knows what's best for you and intends to force it on you." Leader of the terrorist Syndicalist Worker's Front organization, Yarov is a survivor of the Progressive Revolution, a fair rarity due to the significant time ago those events took place and the brutality that characterized both the civil war and the Union's establishment years. A member of one of the sydicalist urban brigades under Adam DuBois, Yarov was a popular fighter who easily ascended throughout the revolutionary fighters' "officer" corps. A passionate fighter, his zeal turned first to suspicion and then to anger when it became clear that the CCP's government was moving towards more authoritarian governing methods, not less. The total ascendancy of Coordinator Stein saw Yarov and his closest followers go underground, turning to violent terrorism first aimed at prominent new humanists, then at governmental forces in general. Nearly captured due to a tremendous information leak following the 3360 Victory Day bombings on Vladivostok, New Britain, and Elysion, Yarov's organization went quiet and nearly collapsed. He and his forces have put on appearances again in recent times, particularly in the harder-to-govern fringes. Yarov is a remorseless man, and sees participation in the Stein government - even at elected levels - as collaboration with a revolutionary betrayer. He apparently takes the egalitarian, democratic ideals of syndicalism quite seriously, however. Deceased Director Amos Bowman "A nice, likeable man - shame he chose diplomacy as a career." Director Bowman was in charge of the Office of Foreign Relations, a branch of the Department of State. He was assassinated in 3400 by a suicide bomber outside of the Office of Foreign Relations briefly following the establishment of a treaty with the Centrality. Bowman is most well-known in his efforts to weld the conquered New Haven sector into a proper member-sector of the Humanist Union. His dedication helped build diplomatic bridges and ease tensions that might have otherwise seen the sector's troubles turn it into a violent, recalcitrant colony-region. Category:Character Information Category:Humanist Union